That also suggests a level of predatory premeditation that might not be present in “drunken poor-judgement” instances.
Perhaps someone better versed in criminal law can comment on whether that could make a conviction easier to get.
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I was in a sorority in the late eights/early nineties at a school where Greek Life was really low key and only a small percentage participated. At the time, I knew of 3 sisters who were SA at frat houses but would not report it. At a recent get together, I learned of many more. The strange thing to me was that some of these women had daughters in the Greek system.
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Clubs based on status and exclusivity? Say it ain’t so. Take a look at the backgrounds at any school’s field hockey, squash, or polo team. Or check the school’s investment or IB clubs.
Seeking status and exclusivity isn’t the problem. Admitting cretins is.
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Greek life is a magnet for the press every time something bad happens and as others have said, there are never media reports on the community service, thousands of dollars raised for their philanthropy or the numerous leadership opportunities. For many, Greek life is more than “paying for friends”. Greek culture also varies widely from campus to campus.
The bigger issue, IMO, is the SA culture on college campuses in general. We send our newly adult kids to a relatively contained environment with their peers, who have not been background checked. We have no idea what kind of people our kids are surrounded by. The media highlights the incidents at Greek houses but it’s also happening at college bars, houses where athletes and other sports clubs live as well as dorms (but Greek life makes for bigger news stories). Moreover, many college administrations refuse to remove accused rapists from campus, forcing victims to have to see them on a daily basis (resulting in many victims leaving school). We should be outraged at how these cases are handled. At Cornell, it was bad enough to warrant two expulsions and a head-scratching “essay writing” penalty, but not bad enough to warrant further investigation by the Tompkins County DA until the recent social pressure, TWO years later?
Another contributing issue which should be addressed is the widespread binge-drinking and drug using on campus. Why is this particular demographic abusing these things?
It’s horrific when it happens anywhere and certainly, when a Greek organization is involved, swift penalties should be enacted regarding their charter, in addition to the appropriate criminal charges. Cornell should have revoked this organization’s charter, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are wealthy alumni and/or board members who were members of this fraternity.
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Social exclusion only. That’s the difference. Every other club or team has some other organizing principle: ability (athletic or otherwise), academic interest, topical interest. A field hockey team comprises, first and foremost, really good field hockey players. Their social status might be part of a coach’s consideration when assembling the team, but it’s not the first consideration, and it might not be a factor at all. Their ability to remain on the team is dependent primarily on their performance on the field.
Abuse and toxic behavior are everywhere—don’t get me wrong. But my premise is that organizations that are formed purely around social exclusivity are more prone to those behaviors because belonging is premised entirely on social acceptance. I can’t point to data (although it might be out there—I haven’t done the research), but there’s pretty compelling anecdotal evidence in the fact that stories about rape and abuse and hazing in fraternities are much more common than similar stories in other groups.
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So you can exclude based on talent or mummy and daddy’s access to a horse but not socially? (If your high school had a squash team, you are very likely privileged.) Isn’t “being social” a talent or gift? Why can’t you have a sincere interest in socializing? Seems like a useful professional and life skill and much needed post Covid.
I find it hilarious that people on this site are complaining about exclusivity on a college admission platform that exalts highly rejective schools.
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Specifically on Greek Life:
I’m sure these articles are being published because of the Cornell incidence and this should be alarming to all of us!
I think some of this back and forth ignores reality.
There is significant SA in the military- among the enlisted, among officers, commanding officers and the people they lead, etc. Many/most? of these individuals do not come from privileged backgrounds, and other than passing a physical, these are not roles which require a high degree of selectivity/exclusivity.
There is SA in corporate organizations, although after 35+ years working for a few of these companies, the tolerance for it seems to be waning. “Back in the day” when an “investigation” consisted of a poorly trained HR rep interviewing the alleged victim-- and the result would be handslap if that- now a highly trained lawyer or investigations professional is involved early on. And there are serious consequences.
There is SA in healthcare (doctors and “less powerful” healthcare workers), law enforcement, government, media, entertainment, religious organizations.
I think the issue of “is this a frat problem” or “is this a Cornell problem” really obfuscates reality. It’s an everywhere/everything problem. The power dynamic which allows someone to take advantage/abuse/assault another human being with the assumption that if they get “caught” there won’t be repercussions seems to exist everywhere.
Now that everyone has “lawyered up” I’m assuming that some competent eyes can evaluate the evidence and determine a path forward. But there are thousands of cases-- maybe not as lurid as this, but certainly with similar “I can do whatever I want” attitudes happening everyday everywhere.
That awful case in France? The only reason it made the headlines around the world was the fact that the husband invited dozens of his neighbors to participate. If it had only been two or three? Yawn. Drug your wife, invite two buddies to %^& her repeatedly? Nobody cares.
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Could that be because the mainstream media readily pick up stories involving Greek life due to the polarizing nature of its mere existence?
There are articles of horrific hazing in sports at the high school level. Both of my daughters, at separate universities, have mentioned the notorious hazing in some of the academic clubs on their campus (more psychological than physical or alcohol-related, but just as demoralizing).
Not diminishing the fact that fraternities have been involved in SA incidents, they aren’t the only culprits. Even outside of college, young women everywhere have to be in on guard - a few years back, a popular bar in my city had several incidents of women being slipped substances into their drinks.
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I agree that it is an everything/everywhere problem AND still that fraternity members are statistically three times more likely to commit sexual assaults and sorority members are more likely to be victims.
IMO, the OP’s original question is valid. We strongly strongly encouraged our daughter not to rush. Thankfully she had no interest and schools with a strong Greek culture were a turn off to her so they weren’t on her college list to begin with.
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Jesse Butler in Oklahoma.
Why this case never got traction nationally I do not understand. A perfect storm of systemic failure- law enforcement, the judicial system, the “old boys cabal”, parents of the perp begging the “system” not to ruin their kid’s life even as his victim’s lives were already ruined-- etc.
So I don’t really understand why certain horrific crimes get picked up and others are just “another day of toxic violence”. But I do think the allure of college kids and frat kids has something to do with the media’s decision-making.
Any of us know the name of the woman who was repeatedly assaulted by her commanding officer in the navy? And told “If you report this, YOU’LL be blamed for seducing me”???
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That case absolutely defies logic. Although I did hear about it and followed it (and was outraged at the charges being dropped), I didn’t see it anywhere in the MSM. That kid will likely matriculate into a college community somewhere and continue his violent rampage against women - because the message is: “I can get away with it” and his mother’s stance is “My son is a good boy”.
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Part of the Greek vs these issue with SA surely is that Greek houses have parties that can be open to many students where substances seem to flow freely, thus creating much more of an enabling environment. The majority of the stories I have seen about Greek life and SA happen at frat parties. It can and does obviously happen elsewhere but do athletics teams and clubs have these big parties where girls from all over campus might come? Bars have an obvious danger but apart from the fact that age is a nominal barrier (I am aware college town bars are notorious for allowing underage drinkers) they are also public places - not somewhere one or more men can coerce an intoxicated female into a bedroom without risking anyone wanting to rock the boat about what they’re doing. Dorms have private spaces but you cannot have big parties with alcohol and drugs being given to dozens of people. I think the issue is that a frat house party is the perfect storm of bringing together the kind of person who would do this with a physical environment that makes it very easy.
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They sure do. Even in my college years, eons ago, the hockey, lacrosse and rugby houses had big parties every weekend. At one of my kids’ colleges, the snowboarding club was notorious for out of control parties.
The potential danger at any male-sponsored party is that they invite large numbers of women but no other men outside of their “club”. So, if the groupthink is to liquor up the women and prey on them, there are likely no outside voices of reason to prevent it.
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Ok, I was unaware that there were even these houses for sports teams tbh. Is this common across colleges? (I don’t come from the US so don’t have an ‘in my day” story here, and US college sports culture is somewhat unique.)
There are sports houses in the college town where I live too. And they certainly do have parties. The main difference here is that the athletes have to be very careful about drinking and using drugs. They can be drug tested year round, even when they aren’t in season. They also seem to have more monitoring by coaches and staff.
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They may not be official houses in the sense that the Greek houses are, but they are houses where a large population of the team or club lives. Thus they become known as the ______ house.
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S2030 has been rushing for five weeks and it goes another six. He shares some and it has been tough to hear as a parent. It was 100% his choice, and he wavered on which fraternity and whether to stick with rushing once it started for several reasons mostly around hazing which has something to do with culture and not something I like one bit.
I also think many frats lack respect for the schoolwork and student mental health. Don’t let the published GPA’s fool you. Once it is over, it is where some kids belong. Whether getting there is worth it, definitely not by me.
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While this article is 12 years old, I wonder if anything substantial has changed with regard to these numbers:
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My fraternity didn’t haze at all (not even pressure to drink), and the membership “ritual” was not harmful physically or emotionally. It was actually pretty cool, but I cannot comment further.
But boy, did they get us good as freshmen on the high school football team!
At the end of the first week of practice, which was dubbed “Basic Training”, we frosh were all rounded up and sorted into five lines. About 100 feet from the head of each queue was a baseball bat-wielding senior.
The initiation went like this:
- We ran out to the senior holding the bat, one at a time, fearing the worst.
- He handed us the bat, told us to hold it upright with one end on the ground and the other end in the air. Then, instructed us to bend over and rest our forehead on it.
- Then, run around the bat in a circle, forehead on the nub of the bat, until told to stop. Then, reverse direction and spin the other way.
- Then, we were to sprint back to the lines from whence we came.
Several kids threw up. I did not, but boy was the run back to the line a zigzag featuring several clumsy falls. The ground was a rotating plane at that point on multiple axes. Not fun! I didn’t eat much that night.
Our reward? A t-shirt which proudly proclaimed, "I Survived Basic Training (________ Football)
We also received camo t-shirts: “Special Forces _________ Football”
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